Method of amd apparatus fob mount



1935-, J. s. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 2,017,706

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORTFOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 m m@w J n. a WE Em l e a EN EN Oct. 15, 1935. J. 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL2,017,706

' METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORTFOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J1722) a)? to 715.

WWW

1935- J. 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 3 9 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTINGSHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES FiledNov. 29, 1953 5 sheets Shaet 5 grvenfogs I 3 WW i I I MW.

Oct. 15, 1935.

J 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 2,017,706 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTINGSHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES FiledNov. 29, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. '15, 1935. J. s. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL,7

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORTFOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 29, 1935Patented Oct. 15, 1935 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNT- ING SHEETMATERIAL ON A FLAT SUP- PORT FOB PRINTING OR OTHER PUB- POSES JohnSylvester Wheelwrlght, Tonbrldge, and George Henry Abel], Esher,England; said Abell assignor to said Wheelwright Application November29, 1933, Serial No. 700,338 In Great Britain December 10, 1932 21Claims. (01. 101-407) T OFFICE This invention provides an improvedmethod for mounting sheet material, for instance fabric, on a flatsupport for printing or other purposes. The invention is particularlyconcerned with that method of printing known as stencil or screenprinting, wherein stencils formed of permeable material are employed. Insuch printing it is essential that the material to be printed shall beheld evenly and firmly on the support, and the primary object of theinvention is to provide means whereby this can be ensured. With thisobject in view the invention provides in its broadest aspect a method ofmounting sheet material (for example fabric) on a flat support forprinting or other purposes, which comprises (a) providing the supportand one side of the sheet material each with a waterproof surface, (b)damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and (c) laying the sheetmaterial on the support with its waterproof surface opposed to thewaterproof surface of the support to which it then adheres by suction.

The waterproof surface on the sheet material may be provided in anyconvenient manner but is preferably formed by uniting that material bymeans of an adhesive to a layer of rubber or other waterproof material.

The invention also includes in printing apparatus, a printing bed havinga waterproof surface to permit sheet material provided on one side alsowith a waterproof surface to be mounted on the printing bed by themethod described above.

The support upon which the sheet material is mounted to be printed orotherwise operated on may be wholly stationary or may comprise atravelling conveyor (for example an endless belt) of rubber or otherwaterproof material which forms the upper face of the support and whichcarries the sheet material past the printing or other devices foroperating upon it.

The invention may be carried out by means of apparatus of widelydifi'erent forms depending to some extent upon the nature of theprinting or other operation to be performed on the sheet material. Inorder that the invention may be clearly understood two forms ofapparatus suitable for carrying out the invention when the sheetmaterial is to be printed by the stencil or screen printing method willnow be described, by

end of one form of apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 1a is a similar view of the rear end of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a plan of the part of the apparatus 6 shown in Figure 1;

Figure 2a is a plan of the part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1a;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure l drawn to an enlargedscale; 10

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure id but drawn to a largerscale;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of a modification of the right handend of the apparatus, as seen in Figure 1 but drawn to a larger scale; 1

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of a machine for forming a roll of theaforesaid laminated sheet material;

Figure '7 is a side elevation of a device for laying said laminatedsheet material on to the sup- 20 port; and

Figure 8 is an end elevation of the device shown in Figure 7.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout. 25 Refen'ingfirst to the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, theapparatus comprises a main frame Ill ca ying a table II over whichtravels in contact therewith an endless rubber conveyor belt l2, thetable being lubricated to 30 reduce friction. This belt passes arounddrums l3, l4, arranged one at each end of the table and rotatablymounted in bearings on the main frame. The lower stretch-of the conveyorbelt is supported by a number of rollers IS. The drum 35 M is arrangedto be driven from an electric motor IS, the driving shaft of which isoperatively connected to 'a shaft I1. carrying a bevel wheel l8 whichmeshes with a bevel wheel I 9 on a shaft 20. Mounted on the latter shaftis a worm 2| which gears with a worm wheel 22 on the shaft 23 of thedrum ll. The said shaft is operatively connected to that drum by amagnetic clutch 24 which is controlled by a switch 25. Thus the conveyorbelt I! can be intermittently driven by 45 actuating the switch 25 andthis can be efiected, in accordance with requirements, by means of, anyconvenient part of the printing mechanism or by a device associatedtherewith. The means for intermittently driving the conveyor belt i2, 50however, forms no part of the present invention. It will be appreciatedthat the table II and the rubber conveyor belt I! together constitutethe 7 support aforesaid on which the material to be printed is laid andthat the said belt provides the waterproof surface on the upper face ofthe support.

The material 23 to be printed is a fabric, a roll 21 of which isrotatably mounted at the front end of the main frame. The web of fabricis led from the roll 21 between tensioning rails 28 to a calendercomprising a heated drum 29 and a pressing roller 30 which is mounted soas to permit it and around guide rollers 35, 31. Adhesive is ape pliedto the outer face of the blanket 3| before it enters the calenderbymeans of a roller 33 which dips into a trough 39 containing theadhesive. The fabric 26 is fed onto that face of the blanket 3| whichhas been coated with adhesive and by means of the pressing roller 30 isfirmly united to the blanket. The laminated web thus formed is fedfabric upwards on to the front end of the conveyor belt l2 to the outerface of which a film of water has been previously applied by means of aroller 49 which dips into a bath of water 4|. Thus the, waterproofunderside of the laminated web as it is fed on to the moistened face ofthe conveyor belt i2 will be caused to adhere to said belt by suctionand will be carried thereby past the printing mechanism which is notshown as it forms no part of this invention.

After the fabric has been printed, it is separated from the waterproofblanket 3| and led over rotatable card wheels 42 which feed the web offabric forwards to a drying device. In practice, a. short length of theprinted fabric will first be separated from the blanket 3| by hand andlaid on said card wheels after which the latter will grip the fabric andfeed it forwards while simultaneously separating it from the blanket.The card wheels 42 are fixed to a shaft 43 which is arranged to bedriven through a manually controllable differential device by means of asprocket 44 and a chain 65 which pases around sprockets on the shaft 23of the drum i4 and on the shaft of the guide roller 33. Thisdifferential .device permits the tension of the fabric as it isseparated from its base to be adjusted at will and is shown in detail inFigure 4.- The sprocket 44 is fixed to the casing 89 of the diflerentialdevice. Pinions 8|, 82 are journalled in said casing and the crownwheel83 is keyed to the shaft 43. The other crown wheel 84 is free torotate on the shaft 43 and is secured to a. worm wheel which is alsofree to rotate on said shaft. The worm wheel 85 meshes with a worm 816on a spindle 81 which is provided with a hand wheel 98 whereby it can berotated. The worm wheel and worm 86 are mounted in a casing 89 which isbolted to the main frame IO. By rotating the worm 86 by means of thehand wheel 88 the tension of the fabric may be adjusted as desiredeither while the machine is stationary or while it is in motion.

Between the guide roller 34 and the tensioning and straightening device35, the waterproof blanket 3| passes a cleaning device whereby anycolouring substance which may have penetrated the fabric 26 duringprinting is removed from the blanket. The said cleaning device may be ofany convenient form. As shown on the drawings it comprises a trough 45containing a number of water-spraying devices 43 to which water can besupplied from a valve-controlled pipe 41. and anumber of rotatablescrubbers 48 arranged to be rotated from the shaft I'I. 5

The invention is primarily intended to be used in association withstencil or screen printing mechanism whereby designs each comprisingseveral different colours can be printed repeatedly along the length ofthe fabric or other sheet 10 material. In such printing it is essentialthat there shall be no transverse movement of the fabric during printingas otherwise the various designs or parts of each design will not be incorrect registration. In order to prevent any 15 transverse deflectionof the fabric 23 as it travels through the apparatus, means is providedfor guiding the conveyor belt l2 to which the fabric is held by suctionas described above. The means shown on the drawings for this purpose :0consists of a number of rollers 5| which are mounted along one margin ofthe conveyor belt and are arranged to travel along a guide-way 52 in thetable II and to be guided in peripheral recesses 53 in the drums i3, i4.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 an endless blanket 3| isprovided but, if. desired. a non-continuous blanket may be employed asshown in Figure 5. In this modification. the blanket is led from a roll54 between tensioning 3n rails 55 over the adhesive-applying roller 33to the calender wherein the fabric 26 is united thereto in the mannerdescribed above. The return stretch of the fabric afterpassing over theguide roller 36 and partly around the heated 3g drum 29 is led around aguide roller 56 and is rewound into a roll 51 on a, beam driven by abelt 58 from a pulley on the shaft of the drum i3. This arrangement ofthe blanket 3| is preferred when that blanket is made of waterproofpaper or other cheap substance which when once used can be destroyed. Inthat case it will be unnecessary to provide any cleaning devices such asthe water-sprays 46 and the scrubbers 43 for the blanket. 4

Instead of laying the laminated material 25, 3| on to the conveyor belti2 to be carried thereby past the printing mechanism, said'laminatedmaterial may be laid on a stationary printing bed in which case stencilsor screens will be moved 5 step by step along the printing bed. Thismodiflcation of the invention may be carried out by means of theapparatus shown in Figures 6, '7 and 8. The web of fabric from the roll29 is united to the waterproof blanket 3|, coming from a the roll 54, inthe calender as described with reference to Figure 5. The laminatedmaterial 26, 3| thus formed after passing over the heated drum 29 iswound into a roll 59 on a spindle or beam 69 which is driven by a chainor belt 9| from 61 the drum 29. The latter can be driven from anyconvenient shaft, for instance a shaft such as is indicated at 49 bymeans of gearing 50 and a chain or belt 62.

The roll 59 of laminated material is then 6| mounted on a carriage 53arranged to travel on rails 54 provided one along each side of theprinting bed. The laminated material is unwound from the roll 59 on thecarriage 53 with the fabric 29 uppermost and passes beneath tension- 70ing rails 66 and thence over a roller 81 which dips into a trough 69containing water. Thus the roller 61 applies a film of water to theunderside of the waterproof blanket 3|, and from said roller thelaminated material is led fabric upwards on 75 to theprinting bed whichis formed by the table II on which a blanket 69 is laid with awaterproof sheet III, for example an oil cloth, on top of the blanket. Asoft roller II is provided on the carriage 63 for pressing the laminatedmaterial on to the waterproof sheet ID to which it adheres by suction ina perfectly flat condition.

After printing, the fabric 28 may be torn from the waterproof blanket 3|and be conveyed to another apparatus for further treatment if necessarywhile the waterproof blanket 3| may in turn be removed from the printingbed leaving the waterproof sheet 10 clean and ready without any furtherattention for the next application of laminated material. The blanket 3|may then be washed and dried, if necessary, and wound on to a beam inreadiness for using again in the apparatus shown in Figure 6.

It isto be understood that the waterproofblanket to which the material,for example fabric, to be printed isunitedmay be of any convenient form.For instance, it may be a waterproof material such as rubber or amaterial for example paper which has been treated so as to render itwaterproof on one or both sides.

Further, it will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted tothe specific lay-out shown on the drawings as obviously that may bemodified to suit different requirements.

We claim:

1. A method of mounting sheet material on a flat support to besubsequently operated upon, which comprises providing the support andone side of the sheet material each with a waterproof surface, dampingone of said waterproof surfaces, and laying the sheet material on thesupport with its waterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface ofthe support.

2. A method of mounting sheet material on a flat support to besubsequently operated upon, which comprises providing the support with awaterproof surface, uniting the sheet material by means of an adhesiveto a layer of waterproof material so as to provide a waterproof surfaceon one side of the sheet material, damping one of said waterproofsurfaces, and laying the sheetmaterial on the support with itswaterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support.

3. A method of mounting fabric to be printed on a printing bed, whichcomprises the steps of providing the printing bed with a rubber surface,uniting the fabric to a layer of rubber so as to form a laminated sheethaving a rubber surface on one side, damping one of said rubbersurfaces, and feeding the laminated sheet with itsrubber face downwardson to the rubber surface on the printing bed.

4. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material on a flatsupport having a Waterproof surface, comprising means for providing thesheet material on one side with a waterproof surface, means for dampingone of said waterproof surfaces, and means for feeding the sheetmaterial with its waterproof surface downwards on to the waterproofsurface of the support.

5. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material on asupport having a waterproof surface, comprising means for forming alaminated sheet by uniting the sheet material by an adhesive to a layerof waterproof material so as to provide a waterproof surface on theunderside of said sheet material, means for damping one of the twowaterproof surfaces, and means for feeding the laminated sheet materialwith its waterproof side downwards on to the waterproof face 'of thesupport.

6. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 5 mg sheet material on aflat support having a waterproof surface on which the sheet material isto be laid, comprising a calender for uniting the sheet material in webform to a rubber base also in web form so as to provide a waterproof 20surface on one side of the sheet material, means for feedingsimultaneously the rubber base and the sheet material into saidcalender,means.for

applying adhesive to the rubber base before it meets the sheet material,means for applying a 25 film of water to one of said waterproofsin-faces, and means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproofface downwards on to the waterproof surface of the support.

8. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 30 ing sheet material,comprising a movable" rubber belt which provides a waterproof surface onwhich the sheet material is to be laid, means for providing the sheetmaterial with a waterproof base, means for feeding the sheet materialwith. its waterproof base downwards on to one end of the movable belt,means for damping the outer face of the belt before the sheet materialis laid thereon, and means at the other end of the belt for separatingthe sheet material from its water- 40 proof base.

9. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material,comprising a movable belt having a waterproof surface on to which thesheet material is to be laid, means for providing the 45 sheet materialon one side with a waterproof base, means for feeding the sheet materialwith its waterproof base downwards on to one end of the movable belt,means for damping the upper face of the belt before the sheet materialis laid 5 thereon, and a card wheel at the other end of the belt forseparating the sheet material from its base.

10. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material in webform for printing pur- 55 poses, comprising a printing table. a movablebelt having a waterproof surface on to which the sheet material is to belaid, which belt travels over said table, means for uniting the sheetmaterial by adhesive to a base of waterproof matego rial in web form soas to provide a waterproof surface on one side thereof, means fordamping one of said Waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheetmaterial with its waterproof base downwards on to said movable belt atone end, 65 means at the other end of said movable belt for separatingthe sheet material from said base, and means for cleaning saidwaterproof base after it has been separated from the sheet material.

11. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 70 into said calenderingdevice a web of fabric to be printed and a web of rubber, means forapplying adhesive to the rubber web before it is fed into thecalendering device to be united to the fabric, which calendering deviceis arranged to feed the laminated material thus formed with its rubberside downwards on to the belt at one end, at least one rotatable cardwheel at theother end of the movable belt for separating the fabric fromthe rubber, a trough containing a number of watersprays and scrubbingdevices, and means for conveying the rubber past said sprays andscrubbing devices to be thereby cleaned after separation from thefabric. I

12. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material,comprising a movable conveyor having a waterproof upper. surface on towhich the sheet material is to be laid, means. for providing the sheetmaterial on one side with a base having a waterproof surface, means fordamping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheetmaterial with its waterproof surface downwards on to one end of theconveyor, means at the other end of the conveyor for separating thesheet material from its base, and means for adjusting the tension of thesheet material as it is being separated from the base.

13. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material,comprising a movable support having a flat waterproof upper surface onwhich the sheet material is to be laid, means for providing the sheetmaterial with a base having a waterproof surface on its underside, meansfor damping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheetmaterial with the waterproof face of the base downwards on to thewaterproof surface of the support atone end, a rotatable card wheelsituated at the other end of the movable support for separating thesheet material from its base, and means for adjusting the tension of thesheet material as it is being separated from said base, whichtension-adjusting means is a manually operable differential device whichis operatively connected to the card wheel.

14. In the art of printing upon sheet material, a method of mounting thematerial to be printed on a printing bed, which comprises the steps ofproviding a layer of waterproof material on the printing bed, uniting alayer of waterproof material to one side of the material to be printed,damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and laying the sheet materialwith its waterproof side downwards on the waterproof layer on theprinting bed.

15. In the art of printing upon webs, the method of mounting a web to beprinted on a travelling conveyor of waterproof material whereby it iscarried over a printing bed past printing devices, which comprises thesteps of providing a layer of waterproof material on one side of theweb, damping the surface of the conveyor on which the web is to be laid,and feeding the web g a traveling conveyor havinga waterproof surface,

which comprises the steps of providing the sheet 5 material with a.waterproof surface, bringing the waterproof surfaces of the conveyor andthe sheet material together, and damping one of the waterproof surfacesprior to bringing the surfaces together, whereby the waterproof surfacesare temporarily united by suction.

17. Apparatus for printing upon a fabric com prising a conveyor having awaterproof surface, a waterproof carrier web onto which the fabric to beprinted upon is secured, means for feeding is the carrier web onto theconveyor in such manner that the waterproof surfaces come into contact,and means for damping one of the waterproof surfaces. 18. In printingapparatus, means for mounting 7 sheet material in the form of alaminated web,

consisting of two united webs of material onto a conveyor having awaterproof upper surface by adhesion, of which webs one has a waterproofsurface on its outer side, and the other is printable material, meansfor damping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding thelaminated web with its waterproof surface downwards onto the waterproofsurface of the conveyor at one end, means at the other end of theconveyor for separating the two webs, and means for adjusting thetension of one web as it is separated from the other.

19. In a printing apparatus, the combination with a printing bed andmeans for printing upon sheet material, of a waterproof carrier web ontowhich the fabric to be printed upon is secured,

a traveling conveyor by which the carrier web is carried past theprinting mea which conveyor has a waterproof surface thereo means forfeed- 40 ing the carrier web onto the conveyor 'so that the waterproofsurfaces of the carrier web and the conveyor come into contact, andmeans for damp-' ing one of the waterproof surfaces.

20. In the method of printing upon a fabric with a temporary waterprooflayer, applying the backed fabric to a supporting member provided with awaterproof surface, moistening the surfaces of said supporting memberand waterproof backing of the fabric respectively and pressing saidsupporting member and fabric into surface contact.

21. A method of mounting flexible sheet material having on one side awaterproof surface on a flexible support having a waterproof surfacewhich comprises the steps of damping one of said waterproof surfaces andprogressively pressing the sheet material on to the support with itswaterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support tobring said surfaces into contact with exclusion of air.

JOHN SYLVESTER WHEELWRIGH'I. GEORGE HENRY ABELL.

